Golf club carrier

ABSTRACT

A very light compact golf club carrier is provided with a bag portion of rigid construction preferably of molded plastic. The rigid bag portion supports a pair of wheels at the bottom center or at the forward edge when a foot at the rearward edge is provided to form a three-point support. A bail is pivoted at the top of the bag portion which is movable downwardly thereagainst to form a compact unit. The bag portion, bail, wheels and axle are boxed as a kit and require no assembly by the manufacturer.

United States Patent 1191 Seibold 1 1 Jan. 2, 1973 541 GOLF CLUB CARRIER1,826,216 10 1931 Johnson ..150 1.s B [76] Inventor: Paul F. Seibold,26665 York Road, FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPL Huntington Woods, Mich. 48070ICATIONS 439,932 1 1927 G ..l501. 22 Filed: Aug. 31, 1970 I "many 5 B 2APPL 68,073 Primary Examiner-Benjamin Hersh Assistant Examiner-Leslie J.Paperner An H ,D' k & P 52 us. c1. ..1s0/1.s B, 280/4726, 280/D1G. 6mess ey [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 55/08 [58] Field of Search..280/47.17,47.19, 47.26, 47.37, [57] ABSTRACT 280/DIG. 6; ISO/1.5 R, 1.5 B, 1.5 C;190/18 A very light compact golf club carrier is provided with A a bagportion of rigid construction preferably of molded plastic. The rigidbag portion supports a pair [56] References Cited of wheels at thebottom center or at the forward edge when a foot at the rearward edge isprovided to form a UNITED STATES PATENTS three-point support. A bail ispivoted at the top of the 3,550,999 12 1970 Bogan ..280/47.19 bagPortion which is movable downwardly 2,475,454 7/1949 Merrill ..280/47.26x thereagainst to form a compact unit. The g p 2,783,054 2/1957Stratton.... bail, wheels and axle are boxed as a kit and require no3,425,708 2/1969 Sato assembly by the manufacturer. 2,955,834 10/1960.laskey 3,142,087 7/1964 Yokers 3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures GOLF cumCARRIER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATEDAPPLICATIONS Reference may be had to applicants copending applications,Ser. No. 813,568, filed Apr. 4, 1969 for GOLF BAG, now U.S. Pat. No.3,559,709, and Ser. No. 68,074, filed Aug. 31, 1970 for GOLF CLUBCARRIER.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention pertains to a golf club carrierhaving a bag portion used as a support for a pair of wheels at thebottom and a bail at the top forming a one-piece unit that is of lightweight, durable, attractive and inexpensive. The bag portion is moldedfrom a strong, light plastic material such as venol plastisol,polypropylene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and the like. Aboss across the bottom molded with the bag portion has a throughaperture for a rod which forms the axle for a pair of wheels. A pair ofsleeves is slid over the axle ends along with a pair of wheels which arespaced from the ends of the boss. Locking caps are forced over the endsof the rod to retain the wheels thereon.

The bail is made from a lightweight tube or rod which is bent intoU-shape having a hand-gripping web and a pair of legs the ends of whichare bent inwardly or flattened and provided with an aperture. A bolt ispassed through the apertures in the bail and bag portion and through atube within the bag portion or the inward ends are passed throughapertures in the bag portion and secured in the ends of a tubetherewithin. The top of the bag portion has a thickened collar portionto provide a neat appearance and strength at the top edge. The collarcould act as a stop for the bail when in carrying position or apair oflugs could be molded below the collar with which the legs of the bailengage when in carrying position. The bail is free to be swungdownwardly against the lower portion of the bag portion to a carryingposition. The tube forms a divider within the bag portion for separatingthe clubs into two groups. A bag with a tie cord could be used to coverthe club heads when tied beneath the collar and a bag which clamps overthe collar could be used to carry balls, tees and the like. The bail isof advantage in having the horizontal web used as a handgrip to preventthe carrier from tipping sidewardly on the two wheels which are spaced aminimum distance apart. The bag is extremely light and will require verylittle effort to pull or will stand in upright position. When the wheelsare mounted across the center of the bottom, the carrier will stand atan angle on the wheels and web of the bail. When the wheels are locatedat the front edge of the bottom and a foot extends downwardly from therear edge, a three-point support is provided for retaining the carrierin vertical position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of a golf clubcarrier embodying features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in elevation of the structure illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view' of the structure illustrated inFIG. 2, taken on the line 3-3 thereof;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged broken sectional view of the structure illustratedin FIG. 2, taken on the line 44 thereof;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged broken view of the structure illustrated in FIG.1, as viewed from the point 5 thereof;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 5, takenon the line 6--6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the top end of a bag, similar to thatillustrated in the foregoing figure, with the bag in cylindrical form,

FIG. 8 is a view of a carrier similar to that illustrated in FIG. 2,showing another form thereof; and

FIG. 9 is a sectional view of the structure illustrated in FIG. 8, takenon the line 9-9 thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A golf club carrier 11 has abag portion 12 herein illustrated as being molded from a plasticmaterial to have thin durable side walls with a thicker collar portion13 at the top and a boss 14 adjacent to or on the bottom having anaperture 15 extending therethrough. A pair of apertures 16 extendthrough the wall of the bag near the top center thereof. A rod 17 isinserted through the aperture 15 in the boss 14 with the ends extendingequidistance from the sides of the bag portion. A sleeve 18 is slid overeach end of the rod 17 followed by a wheel 19 which are retained on therod by a locking cap 21 forced over each end thereof.

A bail 22 is made from a light thin-walled tube having a web 23 and twolegs 24 extending therefrom in parallel relation. The ends of the legs24 are flattened at 25 and provided with an aperture 26 which is clearlyillustrated in FIG. 4. A bolt 27 is illustrated as passing through awasher 28, the aperture 26 in one of the legs 24, through a washer 29and an aperture 16 in the wall of the bag portion and through a tube 31of a length to fit between the inner surfaces of the side walls. Thebolt extends through another washer 29 and aperture 26 in the other leg24 through another .washer 28. Thereafter, a pair of thumb nuts 32 arescrewed upon the threaded end 33 of the bolt. Sufficient friction can beprovided to the legs 24 to require'a light force to move the bail fromcarrying to storage position, the

. former being shown in solid line, the latter in the dotted lineposition 34 of FIG. 2.

A boss 35, in the nature of stop means, is preferably molded beneath thecollar 13 at each side of the bag against which the bail 22 moves whenin pulling position, as illustrated in the Figures. A ground line 36 isillustrated in FIG. 2 to show the angular position of the bagportionwhen supported by the bail when a club is to be used for strikinga ball. In this position, the wheels do not tend to run away with thebag portion as it tends to do in a more vertical position.

While the bag portion in FIGS. 1 to 4 is illustrated as being square inshape with rounded corners, it is to be understood that'the bag can becircular in shape as illustrated in FIG. 7. A circular bag will followthe same construction as the rectangular bag which was described indetail hereinabove.

In FIGS. 5 and 6, a lock is illustrated which may be provided forlocking the bail in different positions on the bag. The lock embodies aspring strip 37 having an aperture 38 through which the bolt 27 extendsand having on the end a stud 39 secured in position by a thumb nut 41 bywhich the stud can be-drawn out of an aperture 42 in the bag portionwall. The bail is locked in pulling position when in the uppermostaperture 42 or in extending position when in the middle aperture 42 orin carrying position when in the lowermost aperture 42. It was found,however, that the two positions of the bail is the most satisfactory.After the bag is removed from the trunk of the car, the movement of thebail from carrying to pulling position is all that is required to havethe carrier ready to be pulled. In the same manner, it only requires themovement of the bail against the bag to have it ready in being lifted inthe car trunk. As pointed out above, a cover could be employed forenclosing the club heads, the cover being retained on the end of the bagportion by tying a pull string beneath the collar 13.

In FIG. 8, a different form of the invention is illustrated, thatwherein the bag portion has the boss 14 on the inner front wall and afoot 43 of plastic material molded with the bag portion and extendingdownwardly at the rear end. This provides a tripod support with thewheels 19 for retaining the bag portion in vertical position. The lengthof the foot can be reduced when the rod 17 is supported above by thebottom of the bag portion. A bail 44 is made from a heavy wire or lightrod 45 having a handle 46 substantially the width of the bag portiondisposed in the center thereof. The rod is bent to have two parallelside portions 47 which are bent at right angles to provide aligned ends48. The rod is bent after the handle has been placed in the centerthereof. The inwardly extending ends pass through a washer 49 andaligned apertures 51 in the sides of the bag and are forced into theends of a tube 52 which engage the inner surface of the side walls toform a divider within the bag portion. Stop portions 35 may be providedbelow the collar 13 against which the side portions 47 of the bail 44engage. The bail may be moved from pulling position to carrier positionwhen pivoted downwardly against the bag portion.

As has been pointed out above, it is contemplated that a kit may beformed of the elements and compactly assembled within a carton forshipment. This eliminates the assembly of any of the parts on the bagportion by the manufacturer and further reduces the cost thereof.

I claim:

1. In a golf club carrier, a unit bag having forward, rearward and sideportions of substantially uniform cross section from an open top to aclosed bottom, said bag being rigid and made of plastic material inwhich golf clubs are to be carried, support means adjacent to the bottomof the forward portion of the bag within the cross sectional areathereof, a rod supported by said support means, wheels on the ends ofsaid rod, a bail of U-shape'having a web and extending legs, and adivider in said bag near the top thereof to which the ends of theextending legs are secured.

2. In a golf club carrier as recited in claim 1, wherein said divider isa tube which receives the ends of the extending legs when bent inwardlyinto aligned relationship with each ot er.

. In a golf clu carrier as recited in claim 1, wherein the legs areflattened on the ends and provided with an aperture, and wherein saiddivider is a rod which extends outwardly of the side portions of the bagand through the apertures in the flattened ends of the legs, and meansfor securing the flattened ends on the rod.

1. In a golf club carrier, a unit bag having forward, rearward and sideportions of substantially uniform cross section from an open top to aclosed bottom, said bag being rigid and made of plastic material inwhich golf clubs are to be carried, support means adjacent to the bottomof the forward portion of the bag within the cross sectional areathereof, a rod supported by said support means, wheels on the ends ofsaid rod, a bail of U-shape having a web and extending legs, and adivider in said bag near the top thereof to which the ends of theextending legs are secured.
 2. In a golf club carrier as recited inclaim 1, wherein said divider is a tube which receives the ends of theextending legs when bent inwardly into aligned relationship with eachother.
 3. In a golf club carrier as recited in claim 1, wherein the legsare flattened on the ends and provided with an aperture, and whereinsaid divider is a rod which extends outwardly of the side portions ofthe bag and through the apertures in the flattened ends of the legs, andmeans for securing the flattened ends on the rod.